"Between Heartbeats"
Petty Officer 2nd Class Wryn, Engineer
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Stardate: 58807.14, 10h30
Location: Various
***
Stardate: 58807.10, 11h30
From: Lt. Cmdr. Jalen Vos, Starfleet Corps of Engineers
To: Starfleet Personnel Command, Enlisted Assignments
Subject: Recommendation for Reassignment: PO2 Wryn
During a scheduled systems audit aboard the USS Kallistra, I observed Petty Officer 2nd Class Wryn performing maintenance on the ship's waste reclamation manifold. The issue in question was a micro-vibrational fault that had eluded both automated diagnostics and routine inspection. PO2 Wryn identified the anomaly by auditory assessment alone, isolating the fault within minutes and correcting it with minimal disruption to ship operations.
This is not the first time I have encountered technicians with strong environmental systems intuition, but PO2 Wryn's capability is exceptional. Her ability to detect system irregularities through non-instrumental means is a rare skill, particularly valuable aboard small-crew vessels where environmental stability is critical to mission readiness.
The Nova-class USS Vanguard is scheduled soon for deployment. Based on my assessment, PO2 Wryn's skill set aligns directly with the vessel's operational needs. Her presence would significantly enhance the ship's environmental stability. Her experience in damage control is an added benefit.
I formally recommend PO2 Wryn for reassignment to the USS Vanguard as Sanitation and Waste Management Specialist and Damage Control Technician. She is, in my professional judgment, uniquely suited to the demands of the posting.
Respectfully submitted,
Lt. Cmdr. Jalen Vos
Starfleet Corps of Engineers
Field Systems Audit Division
***
Main Engineering, USS Kallistra
***
Stardate: 58807.12, 15h00
"Wryn, can I see you for a moment?" Thavren asked. Wryn slipped the strap of her maintenance kit from her shoulder and returned it to the locker before acknowledging Thavren with a nod and a curious "Sir?"
They stepped into an alcove, offering the illusion of privacy while still surrounded by the chirps and purrs of the engine room. Thavren handed Wryn the transfer orders. He always suspected that she would be reassigned one day, heading off somewhere where her skills would matter more. But, still, he hated handing the orders over.
Wryn looked at the PADD. "You're getting rid of me?" she asked with surprise. "It wasn't my idea," Thavren protested. "You managed to get yourself noticed by one of those Corps guys. I looked it up… The Vanguard is newly refitted and is relaunching soon. You'll do good work there. You know how to listen to ships. But if they decide they don't want you after a month, you're welcome to come back here."
"I appreciate that, sir." Wryn answered. Though she couldn't actually absorb the information at the moment. This was not how she had planned her day and she was truly in shock.
She stared at the transfer orders for a moment longer, the words refusing to settle into meaning. "I wasn't expecting this," she admitted. "No one ever does," Thavren said gently. "But you're ready." His voice hitched slightly. He hoped Wryn didn't hear it, but she did. Of course she did, he scolded himself.
She took in a deep breath, willing her voice to stay steady. That wasn't going to happen though, and she took a step closer to Thavren. One arm hooked around his shoulder, half of a hug. "I'll make sure the reclamation manifold is stable before I go," she said. Thavren's stoic Bajoran countenance melted as he wrapped both arms around her small frame. "I know you will."
Thavren released her, and Wryn straightened, the PADD feeling like a live wire in her hand. She didn't trust herself to speak again. Instead, she nodded once — the same nod she gave when a repair was done right — and turned toward the corridor, feeling the Kallistra's heartbeat through the deck plating as she walked away. Or was that hers? For the first time in months, she wasn't sure.
***
Stardate: 58807.14, 05h00
Location: USS Kallistra, Orbiting Alpha Centauri
Captain's Log, Stardate 58807.14. We are currently in orbit of Alpha Centauri after completing our mission to transfer medical supplies from Benecia to Deneva. The crew will be granted a short rest period for shore leave while we restock the Kallistra for her next assignment. Sadly, we are also completing several crew transfers. Some departures are expected; others are less welcome. Even so, Starfleet's needs come first, and we will carry out the orders as directed. Engineering, in particular, will feel one of these losses.
***
Stardate: 58807.14, 06h00
Location: USS Vanguard, Transporter Room 2
The hum of the transporters activating sounded before the visual coalescence began. One moment, PO2 Wryn stood on the familiar deck plates of the Kallistra; the next, she was on the Vanguard. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath of the ship's air. It was different here — newer air filters, smaller crew.
She opened her eyes, stepped down from the transporter deck, and offered a smile to the transporter operator. "PO2 Wryn," she introduced herself. "Where do I put my bags?"
***
Stardate: 58807.14, 10h30
Location: Deck 7 — Main Engineering, USS Vanguard
Raikon stood in front of the doors of main engineering reading from a small PADD, flicking through the new crew member's service record and the attached recommendation letter while he waited for her to arrive. "Waste reclamation... really?" he mumbled to himself. Not the most glamorous side of engineering, and often passed over by many an engineer, but equally as important nonetheless. He had implemented a rotation schedule within the engineering team so everyone had a chance to work in the various positions within engineering — including waste reclamation.
After arrival processing, stowing her gear, and a brief walk through the Vanguard's maintenance corridors, Wryn's PADD chimed with her first assignment aboard the ship: Report to Main Engineering at 1030 hours for departmental introductions. She followed the directions through the narrow corridors, listening to the ship's hum, how it shifted the closer she was to Engineering. It would take time to learn the nuances of this particular ship, but she was a good student. Descending to Deck 7, the sound was louder and more alive, yet warm and welcoming.
She paused outside the doors to Main Engineering, smoothing the strap of her maintenance kit over her shoulder. The doors parted and she stepped inside. An El-Aurian lieutenant commander stood waiting, a PADD in his hand. Wryn had never worked under an El-Aurian before. Listeners, people called them. She wasn't sure whether that made her more nervous or more curious. He looked up as she entered.
Raikon lowered the PADD and shifted it to his left, extending his right hand toward her. "I'm Lieutenant Commander Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer here aboard the USS Vanguard. Welcome aboard." He offered a solid handshake — firm, but not overdone — and gave her a small but warm smile. "You can call me Chief or Chief Achaea, whatever suits you. I hope you've settled in all right?"
"PO2 Wryn, sir," she said, stepping forward to accept the handshake. He was a full head taller than her, and she wondered momentarily how uncomfortable he must be during crawls through the Jefferies Tubes. "I'm settled in. I took a walk through the maintenance corridors earlier — starting to acclimate to the ship." She could tell it had just been through a refit; the hum she'd heard then had been the steady pre-departure resonance, not the same as when a ship was on the move. Now, at warp, she was still processing new layers in its voice. "It feels like a good ship. I'm prepared to get to work whenever. Just say the word."
Raikon smiled. "That's good to hear." He stepped aside to give her a full view of Main Engineering, the warp core humming as the ship traveled at Warp 7. "As you found your way down here, you already know this is Main Engineering. I'll have to check the roster to see where you're currently assigned, but I rotate everyone through the various engineering stations — two weeks at each posting before moving on. I believe it helps keep people sharp and gives them a broader skill set. Any questions so far? We'll continue the tour and have a look at the rest of the ship."
"A rotation through the ship's systems would help me get oriented, Chief," she said. "But my certification track is waste management, environmental systems, and damage control. I'm not rated for warp operations or anything beyond standard diagnostics. Will the rotation stay within the systems I'm rated for, or should I expect cross-training outside my specialty?"
"For the first two weeks, you'll rotate every day to a new station, where you'll shadow one of our engineers," Raikon replied, giving her a warm smile. "It'll give you some insight into all the various stations on the ship, as well as a chance to meet the team. After that, you'll rotate between the stations you're certified for. And if you're really interested, you can always expand your skill set. I'm always open to people broadening their skills and taking on new challenges."
"Shadowing makes sense, Chief. I'm comfortable learning how the stations fit together, even if I'm not rated to run them myself." She glanced toward the warp core, watching the way the energy lit the room. "How long have you been aboard the Vanguard?"
Raikon followed her gaze and frowned slightly as he tried to remember — it had been a hectic time. "Six, seven months? I was here at the start of the refit. A few of the team were as well. The rest are quite new." He studied her face. "You've only been part of Starfleet for a short time. How are you finding it?"
"It's been a change," she answered, then clarified, "but a good one. Ardana has made a lot of advancements on environmental systems over the last century. Starfleet works on a scale I haven't seen back home." She paused, reflecting only for a moment. "I know how important it is to keep those systems running smoothly. When filtration or atmospheric balance slips, people feel it. They think less clearly. They regress. I've seen what happens when the environment turns against you, even a little. So I take the work seriously." Her gaze returned to him. "So far, Starfleet has been a good fit."
Raikon nodded. "I'm glad to hear you are fitting in. As for the other — I've heard about the Troglyte struggles and hardship. I'm sure your people would be proud to see where you are now." He gestured toward the doors out of engineering. "Would you like to continue the tour?" "Of course, Chief. Lead the way."
"Paging Dr. Engineering"
Lt. Cmdr. Raikon Achaea, Chief Engineer
Lieutenant JG Schubert "Scruffy" LeBlanc
PO2 Wryn, Engineer
Stardate: 58807.15, 20h30
Location: Deck 3, USS Vanguard
***
At 2030 hours, the torpedo maintenance bay had its own rhythm. Quiet and cooler with a faint, mixed odor - metallic and oily. The hum of the Vanguard at warp thrummed through the deck plating, steady and quickly becoming familiar.
Wryn set her maintenance kit down beside the nearest workstation and checked over the display. Weapons and their systems were a necessary part of any starship, but not one she connected with. Still, she understood the importance of keeping every component balanced and reliable.
She keyed up the diagnostic interface, letting the console's soft glow settle across her hands. Others would join her soon. In the meantime, she valued the few minutes of solitude.
A few minutes after getting the call from the bridge, Scruffy Leblanc hurried into the torpedo maintenance bay. Woken up by the call, he didn't have his usual tool set on him, so the first stop was the standardized tool storage on the wall.
As he pulled a few and slipped them into his tool belt, he looked around the room, spotting Wryn. He gave her his signature easy smile as he caught her sharp but fair features. "I know we went through standard introductions, but we haven't had much chance to talk these first few days. I'm Scruffy Leblanc."
"Did the chief happen to say what we were doing tonight?"
Wryn turned toward Leblanc as he approached, giving a small nod in greeting. "PO2 Wryn," she said, returning the introduction. "Good to meet you properly."
She glanced briefly at the torpedo in its cradle before answering his question. "The Chief didn't say. I was called, so I came. I figure we'll hear the details when he gets here. The torpedo's baseline readings look stable."
Catching the end of the sentence as he walked in, Raikon nodded.
"It's good to hear our patient is doing well," he smiled.
Walking to the head of the cradle where the torpedo was resting, he motioned for Wryn and Leblanc to come closer.
"The Captain wants to launch a few probes, a Class Four and a Class Eight."
He gestured towards the torpedo magazine in the corner.
"As you may or may not know, the Nova class, due to its size, can only carry about 24 torpedoes, and half of those have been set aside in Class One to Four configuration."
He leaned his hands on the torpedo in front of him.
"Unlike serving on a bigger ship, where most of the configuration is automatically done by the computer, on smaller ships like ours we have to be a bit more hands-on. Meaning that in order to make a Class Eight, we have to modify one of these bad boys," he said, tapping the casing of the torpedo.
A wicked grin started to form on his face.
"Well, I say we… I meant you two."
Standing upright, his face grew a bit more serious.
"I thought this would be a good learning experience for you two, and also give you the chance to work together more as a team, since Wryn only recently joined."
He gestured towards Leblanc.
"I want you to take the lead on this, but don't worry. I'll be supervising every step of the way."
Wryn stepped closer, eyes on the sleek torpedo casing. "Just to confirm, Chief… We're converting this torpedo into a Class Eight probe, with Leblanc leading and me supporting?"
She glanced between the two men in the room, "I'm ready when you are."
Scruffy absentmindedly nodded along as the Chief Engineer described the circumstances that required conversion of this torpedo, already thinking more about the equipment Science would expect installed than the potential of the warhead before him.
Scruffy's eyes widened momentarily as Cmdr. Achaea announced he would be taking a supervisory role, with Scruffy himself taking lead on the project. Suddenly, he was a lot more interested in recalling his schematics on the standard matter/antimatter warhead of Starfleet.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. 'Easy, Leblanc. You know these systems, just take it one step at a time.'
He opened his eyes and looked between the commander and Wryn. "Well, we better get those access panels open," he said with a reluctant smile.
"Fortunately, the detonator isn't active until the pod passes through the launch tubes, so the containment fields are stable and we don't have to worry about annihilation immediately," he spoke, confirming his knowledge to everyone involved as he leaned on the casing and activated the latches on the access panels.
Raikon acknowledged Wryn's statement. "That is correct, I'll let Leblanc take it from here."
Stepping back so as to give them some room. He caught a glimpse of Leblanc's face with the realization it was him that was going to lead. But the man quickly stepped to it.
He nodded when Leblanc made the statement about the detonator.
"Correct." He added. "A torpedo is primed as it leaves the ship, making sure there's little chance for detonation in storage or tube."
Gesturing to the magazine behind him as he walked around.
"But just to be sure they are stored in armored magazine just in case."
Wryn stepped in beside Leblanc as the panels opened. Once the casing was accessible, she began laying out the conversion components that the Chief had earlier indicated: sensor housings, telemetry relays, and the interface module.
After several more minutes of work, the torpedo's interior was fully exposed and prepped. Wryn glanced toward Leblanc, "Everything is staged. Just tell me what you want first?"
While Wryn was prepping the conversion components, Scruffy was dragging over the transfer hoses connected to the wall. "We need to drain the Matter/Antimatter storage chambers from the warhead before we can remove them. These keep the deuterium plasma and antimatter flows suspended in containment fields as they're returned to the ship's storage tanks. There's a similar system as part of the ship's umbilical whenever we need to refuel."
He handed one of the tubes to Wryn to plug into her side of the access panel. Once they were secure, he initiated the transfer flow. While he waited for the process to complete, he walked over to the spare-parts storage and pulled out a set of miniature warp-coils.
Raikon stood silently as he watched them both "operate" on the torpedo, converting it into a probe. He nodded at the correct steps Leblanc was taking.
While he had performed similar conversions countless times over the years, it was always good to see junior engineers gaining hands-on experience with the process. The procedure itself was fairly straightforward, but attention to detail remained essential when dealing with systems that had once contained matter and antimatter.
The transfer of the matter and antimatter stores was proceeding as expected. It was a routine procedure, but one that still demanded care and attention. A mistake around containment systems was not something anyone wanted to experience first-hand.
Folding his arms across his chest, he continued to observe their work from a short distance away, allowing them to get on with the task without unnecessary interruption.
Wryn secured the hose Scruffy handed her, locking it into the port on her side of the access panel. The transfer indicators flickered from amber to green, the containment fields shifting as the matter and antimatter stores began draining back into the ship's storage. She kept her eyes on the readings, calling out the stabilization points as they settled.
When the flow reached its midpoint, she glanced over and saw Scruffy returning with a set of miniature warp coils cradled in his hands. She straightened slightly, curiosity tempered by professionalism.
"Those for the probe's propulsion matrix?" she asked, keeping her voice low so as not to break the rhythm of their work. "Or part of the sensor package?"
She shifted her stance to give him room at the open casing, ready to assist with whatever came next.
Scruffy walked up to the casing just as the transfer completed and handed a set of coils across to Wryn. Other than scale, they were functionally identical to the coils that lined the warp nacelles.
"Propulsion," he said, answering her question. "A torpedo is too small for a standard reactor, but the ship's warp field induces a sympathetic field in the torpedo's coils. Your standard photon torpedo can only sustain a field of 3 Cochranes, if only briefly. These will help the Type-8 get up to Warp 9, determined by the speed of the ship when it is launched." Lying the coils on the upper casing, he used his control panel to open up the primary chamber, the larger sections swinging open like a couple of clams.
"The next step is to remove the empty storage tanks, but once we have room we'll finally be able to start the installation work." He pulled the de-coupler from his tool belt and started extracting the large antimatter storage tank, occasionally glancing across to see how she was getting on.
Raikon watched as the empty storage tank was removed from the torpedo casing, giving an approving nod as the work progressed.
"One of the reasons Starfleet adopted the Type-8 design was its flexibility," he commented. "A standard torpedo can be turned into a sensor probe, communications relay, navigational beacon, or half a dozen other things with the right modifications."
He stepped a little closer, briefly looking over the miniature warp coils resting on the upper casing.
"Of course, that only works if the conversion is done properly. A poorly aligned coil can leave you with anything from inaccurate sensor readings to a probe that drops out of warp well before it reaches its destination."
Returning his gaze to both engineers, he folded his arms once more.
"No pressure."
The faint smile that followed made it clear he was joking, at least mostly.
Wryn accepted the coils Scruffy passed over, settling them into the mounting brackets with careful, deliberate movements. The torpedo's internal hum shifted as each coil seated properly, the sympathetic field indicators rising in steady increments. She adjusted the alignment tabs by fractions, watching the readings stabilize into the narrow band Raikon had mentioned.
"Coil alignment nominal," she reported quietly. "Field induction is clean."
With the chamber cleared and the propulsion matrix in place, she stepped back to let Scruffy secure the final housing. Once the casing locked with a solid, even click, Wryn brought the diagnostic interface online. The probe's systems scrolled through the startup cycle - telemetry, sensor suite, propulsion, containment… each returned green.
She glanced toward the Chief Engineer and gave a small nod.
"Conversion complete. Type-Eight configuration is stable and ready for launch."
She set her tools aside, the faint satisfaction of a finished job settling in as she stepped back from the cradle.
Once the coils were aligned, Scruffy stepped back, scanning the system with his tricorder. "Plasma flows are aligned, fields are stable. She'll last just long enough," he said, locking down the propulsion system.
A few minutes later, they had finished installing the sensor suite the Bridge had requested. As Wryn did a final check of the systems, Scruffy closed up the access panels. He looked up at Raikon, "Conversion complete, Commander. Ready for deployment."
Raikon smiled, clasping his hands together.
"Well done. You two have done brilliantly."
As he approached the cradle, he gave the newly converted probe an approving glance.
Pushing the cradle towards the wall-mounted loader for the launch tubes, Raikon clicked it into place. Pressing a few buttons on the control panel, a hatch slid open and the Type-8 probe began its journey into the loading system.
Turning around, he tapped the badge on his chest.
"Lieutenant Tanner, this is Chief Raikon. The Type-8 probe has been loaded into the tube and is ready on your command."
"Acknowledged."
The channel closed.
Walking back to the pair of engineers, he nodded.
"Thank you, both. I hope you enjoyed the experience."
Turning slightly towards Wryn, he continued.
"I know this is outside your usual remit, but I think you've done well nonetheless."
Looking over to Leblanc, he gave a small nod.
"Although not many words were spoken between you, you both had a good grasp of the situation. Sometimes they just aren't needed."
Looking at them both once more, he smiled.
"I should probably get back to the bridge and leave you two to your duties."
"Thank you, Sir," Scruffy said with an assured smile. He waited as the torpedo was returned to the loading systems and disappeared behind a closing hatch.
"Given our 'brilliant performance,'" he said with a shrug and a grin, "any chance Officer Wryn could be free for a brief respite?" He looked over at her.
"I don't know about you, but after the tension for the first half of that procedure, I could certainly use something to relax with. No synthehol, I promise, even if only one of us is on-duty," he said, casually reminding the commander that he had been called during his off-hours. He gave Wryn a warm, friendly smile in casual invitation.